MURRIETA: Carjacking suspects were former teacher, student

A man arrested over the weekend on suspicion of carjacking a 70-year-old woman in Murrieta and scuffling with a good Samaritan who intervened was a onetime Temecula high school teacher and his alleged accomplice a former student.

Justin Philip Girard, 40, and Brittany Allison Richardson, 24, both of Murrieta, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to carjacking, robbery, elder abuse and other charges, authorities said. They were each being held in Riverside County jail with bail set at $500,000. If convicted as charged, they face a maximum of 11 years in prison, according to John Hall, a spokesman for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

Family members who attended the brief hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley declined to comment.

Girard and Richardson have been in a relationship for several years and have a young child together, according to court papers related to the custody of Girard’s older children with his ex-wife.

Though Girard still holds a valid teaching credential, it’s unclear whether he is currently employed as a teacher.

Temecula Valley Unified School District officials said Girard was employed by the district from August 2004 to October 2010 teaching drama but said they could not disclose the circumstances of his departure.

Richardson was vice-president of the drama club in 2009, according to the Great Oak Yearbook for that year.

After Girard left his job as a drama teacher at Great Oak High School, he was employed in 2011 as a teacher with River Springs Charter School and in 2012 as an English teacher in San Bernardino, according to his family court filings.

In the past few months, Girard has been arrested repeatedly on increasingly serious charges.

Before the carjacking Saturday night, he was already facing several misdemeanor counts, including DUI, hit and run, petty theft, misdemeanor battery, possession of heroin and methamphetamine and being under the influence of a controlled substance, Riverside County court records show.

The theft and battery incident took place in May at Riverside-area Walmart, court records show.

On Saturday night, police said Girard was at the Murrieta Walmart where he followed the 70-year-old victim to her car. She was loading her groceries when he demanded her purse and keys, police said.

A struggle ensued and a bystander came to her aid, spraying Girard with pepper spray. The spray wasn’t enough to deter him, however, and he drove off in the woman’s car, picking up Richardson nearby, police said.

Girard and Richardson were arrested later that night in Oceanside.

Josh Speaks, a spokesman for the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing, said the agency conducts disciplinary reviews when a teacher is arrested or accused of other misconduct, but such information does not become public until a final decision has been made.

Speaks said, in the event of a criminal charge against an educator, the commission generally waits to make its ruling until the case has been adjudicated.

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